


Of Bras and Binders

by GingerTodgers



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: hp_crossgenfest, Cross-Generation Relationship, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Malfoy Family, Trans Character, binders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-05-15 14:44:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14792483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GingerTodgers/pseuds/GingerTodgers
Summary: Scorpius attempts to navigate the deeply unpleasant experience of buying a bra, with some support from Lucius.





	Of Bras and Binders

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my busty betas for answering all my awkward questions about breasts, to my fellow GT for all her support, to CSigilon for the SpaG check, and to the mod for organising the fest <3

"I won't do it," said Scorpius, glaring down at his toast.

"Darling, I do understand that you find this embarrassing," said his mother, neatly buttering her own toast. "We just think it's time to face, ah, facts."

"Why don't we make a day of it?" suggested Grandmother Cissy. "A quick visit to Madam Coco's and then tea at Foppingdons?"

"I do not need a bra," said Scorpius, speaking through gritted teeth.

"Scorpius." His mother sighed.

"I don't!" Scorpius tried to fold his arms across his chest and huffed in irritation when the movement pushed his breasts up and out. He was wearing two Muggle sports bras and a thick shirt, but it definitely wasn't enough.

"Good morning, my darlings." Grand Lucius swept into the breakfast room, pausing to drop a kiss onto Grandmother Cissy's upturned face and to ruffle Scorpius' hair.

"Hullo Grand," said Scorpius.

"Lucius, have you seen Draco this morning? Maybe he can talk some sense into you." Mother addressed the end of her sentence to Scorpius, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow as he frowned back at her and hunched further forward in his seat.

"Dear me," said Grand Lucius, taking a sip of their tea. "It is not yet nine and we are already relying on _Draco_ to be the voice of reason?" They smiled at Scorpius who fought to keep a straight face. Grand's habit of poking fun at his dad always made Scorpius feel a bit awkward, even when it was justified.

"So late?" Grandmother Cissy spoke up, a note of concern in her voice. "Goodness, the Parkinsons will be arriving in less than an hour. Scorpius, would you be a dear and check on the peacocks? They are making rather a racket and I would hate for darling Wisteria's nerves to be strained."

Grateful for the escape, Scorpius pushed aside his untouched breakfast and slipped away.

* * *

A morning spent negotiating a truce among the peacocks left Scorpius exhausted, filthy, and covered in feathers. Unfortunately, it also lowered his guard enough that he forgot about his mother's aptitude for localised Portkey charms. The moment he touched the dining room door's handle, Scorpius felt a sharp tug behind his navel and darkness descended over him.

Opening his eyes a few moments later, Scorpius found himself in a spacious changing room. The walls were decorated in emerald-green flocked paper, and heavy silver velvet curtains covered the only doorway. A matching padded ottoman sat in the middle of the room, on top of which were three dark green bras.

"Mum?" Scorpius yelled. "I asked you to stop doing that."

"There really is no need to shout." Astoria's voice floated through the thick curtain. "I am right here, and I will stay here until we have found you a bra."

"This is so unfair," said Scorpius, already taking off his shirt.

"Yes, yes. Life is full of unnecessary suffering, and you are its greatest victim—excuse me, might I trouble you for another cup of tea?"

Assuming that last sentence had been directed at some shop assistant lurking on the other side of the curtain, Scorpius decided to focus on the matter at hand. The bras his mother had picked out were alright. Plain, with no frills or lace, and very ugly— which he appreciated. The utilitarian nature of the... of the _objects_ in front of him made them seem almost benign.

Of course, once he'd struggled into one, that feeling vanished in a puff of self-loathing.

Averting his eyes from the ornate mirror hanging in the corner ("How rude," sniffed the mirror) Scorpius stared down at his chest in dismay. The breasts that he'd managed to reduce to the size of two oranges with sports bras had ballooned to the size of overripe watermelons. Scooped and offered up by the _object_ , they rose as he breathed in.

"Mum." Scorpius yelled again, drawing some satisfaction from Astoria's annoyed tut. "This isn't working."

"Are you having trouble with the clasp? Would you like me to come and—"

"No!" Scorpius almost screamed, snatching up his shirt.

"Don't shout," chastised his mother. "Please, tell me what's not working so we can try to sort it out."

"I... It's..." Scorpius rubbed the back of his neck, shuddering as the movement caused his breasts to move.

The image of Albus Potter's bare chest popped into his mind. Scorpius tried not to watch the other Slytherin first years when they changed. It had taken long enough for everyone to accept that the Slytherin girls dormitory had rejected Scorpius, and that he did, in fact, belong in the boys dorms. If they thought Scorpius fancied any of them, he'd never hear the end of it.

So Scorpius always kept his curtains drawn when he changed for bed and made sure he was always busy when the other boys undressed. Despite all these precautions, Scorpius couldn't help catching occasional glimpses of Albus.

The middle Potter didn't spend a lot of time without his top on, but their beds were rather close together and... and Albus definitely did not have breasts. He had a smooth, flat, almost concave chest, and his nipples were tiny—not the red, stretched things Scorpius had been cursed with.

"Scorpius?" His mother's voice sounded louder, like she was standing right on the other side of the curtain. Struggling not to panic, Scorpius racked his brains to think of something, anything that would make this easier.

"I... I need Grand." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Scorpius knew it was the right decision.

"Lucius? Are you sure darling?" His mother didn't sound very convinced and so, with a huff of irritation, Scorpius pulled his shirt back on and marched through the curtains.

"Where's the Floo?" Scorpius asked the nearest shop assistant.

"Scorpius, darling, I—"

"I need to make a call," said Scorpius, trying not to feel guilty at the worried look on his mother's face. "Please."

* * *

Grand stepped through Madam Coco's Floo, took one look at Scorpius' bright red face, and ordered, "Leave us." Madam Coco and her assistant hurried to comply, although Scorpius' mother stayed where she was. Turning to their daughter-in-law, Grand added; "Please. I promise to take good care of our boy."

Scorpius was anxious to change out of the _object_ and so Grand waited in the main room, twirling their cane and sneering at the shop's range of tap-dancing thongs. By the time Scorpius returned to the room, it had changed from green and silver to the greys and soft blues of the Manor.

"Oh pshaw," said Grand, noticing Scorpius' judgemental expression. "Establishments such as this change their colours by the hour."

"Why?"

"I imagine they formed the misapprehension that decking the shop out to resemble the Slytherin Hogwarts dormitories would inspire your mother to make a salacious purchase." Grand ignored Scorpius' shudder and gazed around the redecorated room, flicking their wand to turn the carpet a slightly darker blue.

"Do you ever wish you could do that to yourself?" Scorpius asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the new carpet. "Like Teddy does with his hair?"

"I used to. Before I met your Grandmother. Grandmother Cissy." Grand corrected themself.

Scorpius' dad had once told him that sorting out the titles of Scorpius' grandparents was "The closest we have ever come to draining the Manor cellars". A genderneutral term for Lucius had actually been fairly easy, once Astoria's teasing suggestion of "Gramps" had been firmly quashed.

The question of grandmothers, however, still rumbled on. Both Natsuki Greengrass and Narcissa Malfoy favoured ‘grandmother', and the two families spent enough to time together that some differentiation was needed. To this day, Astoria insisted the scorch marks in the Blue Sitting Room remain as a permanent reminder that Natsuki did not appreciate Lucius "researching" Japanese culture and that the term ‘sobo' was not, in her eyes, an adequate substitute for ‘grandmother'.

Scorpius hadn't exactly been sentient during these discussions, but he'd grown up very aware that the word ‘grandmother' must always be followed by either ‘Cissy' or ‘Suki'. He also knew that ‘Grand' was the only title Lucius Malfoy responded to, and that Sterling Greengrass did not give a single, solitary fig how his grandson addressed him.

"Why did you stop?" Scorpius asked, hope fluttering in his stomach. "Did she make you feel better about it?"

"No, no." Grand seemed lost in thought for a moment. "I think having a home of our own made the difference. Newlyweds, you understand." Scorpius very much did not understand and had absolutely no desire to do so. "We were expected to disappear for a while. Nesting, my mother called it." Grand continued, oblivious to how much they were psychologically scarring their grandson.

"Redecorating the Manor, making it our own, was a delight. Your Grandmother— er, Grandmother Cissy— she opened my eyes to the joy of detail. I may not have been able to change my shape, but there is some satisfaction to be had in the small things." As they spoke, Grand flexed long pale fingers, smiling in satisfaction as the soft shop lighting highlighted metallic nail varnish.

"That's a bit sad." Scorpius winced at his own choice of words. "Not that you're sad! Just...."

"You think I accepted too little?" Grand cocked their head, demonstrating an uncanny resemblance to the Manor's peacocks.

"Maybe? It doesn't sound like things really improved. Just that you learned how to put up with it."

"Is that what you want, my dear? To improve?"

"Er..." Scorpius fumbled. "I want to feel better. About myself. Or to be better, if that's possible?" Scorpius couldn't quite keep the hopeful note out of his voice.

"Be better?" Grand frowned.

"Be a boy. Like, physically." Scorpius hurried on. "I know I'm one inside, but I'd like to be one on the outside as well."

"Very well," said Grand. "You wish to ‘be a boy' not, ah, not retain the option to move between forms?"

"No." Scorpius shook his head. "I'm not like you and Teddy."

"Well." Grand exhaled, smiling roguishly. "I would hope not. You have a far more refined colour palette than Edward, and you are much braver than me."

"Thanks." Scorpius felt his cheeks heat up. "So... er, do I have to buy a bra?"

"From here? Heaven forfend. Come along." Grand stood, holding out a hand to Scorpius. "I have a better idea."

* * *

Madam Chaos' Boutique was almost an exact replica of Madam Coco's, right down to the endless cups of tea and Slytherin colour-scheme. The only difference was the three dark green objects sitting on the silver ottoman: not bras, but binders. Magically enhanced binders that held Scorpius' breasts firmly in place and came with localised invisibility charms.

"This is brilliant," said Scorpius, beaming up at Grand as they waited for the Floo connection.

"Good." Grand smiled back. "You have all the information you need?"

"What, like how to wash them?"

"Malfoys do not wash clothes, Scorpius. Our clothes are washed by the lucky few."

"Right." Scorpius tried not to roll his eyes—then thought ‘fuck it' and rolled them anyway. "I'm going to wear one of them tonight at dinner. Maybe with the leather jacket Teddy got me?"

"If you wish to be permanently removed from my will, that seems like an excellent idea." Grand's own eyes were fixed on the Floo.

"Well, you're going to live forever, so that's not much of a threat," said Scorpius, grinning widely as he watched Grand try to hide a smile. The rush of the Floo announced that they were clear to leave and Grand put an arm around Scorpius' shoulders as they stepped forward.

**Author's Note:**

> This work is part of the 2018 Harry Potter Cross Gen Fest. The author will be revealed on August 31.


End file.
